The Noisiest Place on Earth … Between Your Ears

The modern work environment is a symphony of interruption and distraction. But it’s not the real productivity saboteur.  The true villain resides inside our head.   It’s that little voice constantly reminding us of all that needs doing – the “Oh, ya!” and the “Can’t forget that.” and the “That too; gotta get that done!”

It’s a fact.  The noisiest place on earth is between our ears.  Yet it’s the place that must be quietest for us to focus because focus drives productivity.  The more focused we get, the better work we do and the more of it we get done.

The problem is that the outside world is constantly demanding our attention.  Consequently, it seems impossible – even counter-productive – to pursue quieting strategies.  In essence we’ve become dependent (addicted?) to the frenzy, the activity, the urgency of the frenetic world.

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Taskus Interruptus: Good Writing Requires Concentration

(Editor’s Note:  This is a guest post by M.H. Sam Jacobson, Legal Research & Writing Instructor [Retired] at Willamette University College of Law in Salem, Oregon)

Good writing requires knowing what you want to say. Knowing what you want to say and how to say it requires concentration. And concentration requires managing distractions, no small task in today’s multimedia world. Never before has the ability to pay attention been challenged to the extent it is being challenged today.

The Cacophony of the Modern Workspace

Consider what happens when you just want to type a document. You open the file and begin working when a pop-up message says you have a program update. You can stop what you are doing and then restart your computer, or you can ignore the message, only to have the pop-up return over and over until you give up in frustration, save what you are doing, update the program and restart your computer.

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Leveraging Leadership Time – The Waterfall Effect

(Author’s Note: The following is a Cliff Note style summary of my keynote presentation and upcoming book titled The Waterfall Effect: Six Principles for Productive Leadership.)



Time is every organization’s most valuable asset.  Yet it is a non-renewable resource; once gone it cannot be recaptured.  Thus, leaders must leverage their time to remain productive.

The Benefits of Leveraging Leadership Time

Leaders who focus on the right objectives, people and activities are leveraging their time.  The result is called the Waterfall Effect – the cascading benefit that flows down through the organization and out to clients and customers.

How can leaders best leverage their time in today’s always-on, frenetic world? How can they ensure that they’re making the best use of this precious, non-renewable resource to deliver the most productive leadership possible? How can today’s leaders reproduce the Waterfall Effect over and over?



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DMV – The Model of Efficiency?

Going to the DMV ranks near the bottom of things people like to do. We wait until our license plates or our driver’s licenses are nearly expired before we drag ourselves down to the local office, expecting the experience to be both miserable and interminable.  Those fears, coupled with our general fear of the unknown, make a trip to the DMV something just slightly more fun than getting a root canal.

Bureaucracy-phobic

Such was my state of mind a few weeks ago as I approached our DMV branch office with the title to my new (old) car in hand.  The mission: to get the old Montana title converted to a new Nevada title.  Simple enough.

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